Folding furniture



May 23, 1939.

l. L. ROGERS 2,159,228

FOLDING FURNITURE Filed April l5, 1936 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented May 23, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application April 15,

2 Claims.

This invention relates to furniture. More specically, it relates to furniture of the kind that is readily collapsible for the purposes of transportation or storage.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a collapsible article of furniture which may be readily carried, stored in a relatively small space as in an automobile, and extended at will to form a table, tea-wagon, or the like.

Another object is to provide an article of furniture of the class described which is sightly and which may therefore not only be used outdoors but also indoors without clashing in appearance with other furniture provided in the average home.

A further object is to provide an article of furniture of the class described which has a strong yet sightly top which is readily convertible from an extended fiat position for use as a table, to a smaller top with upwardly extending sides or flanges to serve as a tea-wagon or other comparatively safe carrier of beverages, food or the like. Other objects and advantages will appear as the invention is hereinafter disclosed.

Referring to the drawing which illustrates what I now consider to be a preferred embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the article as it appears as a tea-Wagon or the like.

Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation showing, in full lines, the assemblage as it appears when collapsed, and, in dot-and-dash lines, certain of the parts in a partially elevated position.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation, with a tray in section, showing the assemblage in collapsed position.

The article of furniture shown comprises a lower platform lil upon which are mounted, as by brackets or journals I I, axles I2, provided with Wheels such as rubber-tired wheels I3. Preferably, the ends of the platform I are cut away, as at I4, for a purpose hereinafter appearing. One end of the platform I Il may be provided with 45 lugs I5 to which a cord or rope or the like may be secured, if desired, for the purpose of more conveniently moving the vehicle provided by the platform and wheels, in certain conditions of use.

An upper platform I6 is extensible from the collapsed position shown in Fig. 3 to a desired elevated position (see, for example, the dot-anddash partially elevated position in Fig. 2). Suitable means are provided for facilitating this elevation and lowering of the upper platform 1936, Serial No. '74,442

I6, and I shall now proceed to describe the one form of such means.

The lower platform I0 has secured thereto the comparatively short angles or flanged rails Il to which are pivotally connected a corresponding one of four rigid strips or legs I8. By providing sufficient friction in these pivots, the top 56 will not tip under normal loads. A pair of laterally spaced comparatively long angles or flanged rails I9 is secured to the upper platform IS on the under side thereof. The free ends of the legs I8 a're each provided with a pin 20 which extends'through a corresponding one of the slots 2| provided in the rails I9. The slots 2l are of such length as to permit the upper platform I6 to be moved from the collapsed position shown in Fig. 3 to any desired position of elevation. For releasably locking the parts in any selected one of a plurality of elevated positions, the slots 2| are shown provided with 20 notches 22 in which the pins 20 are adapted to seat. The number and spacing of the notches 22 will depend upon the number of different positions of elevation of the upper platform, desired. Each notch 22 may be semi-circular or somewhat 2- greater than a semi-circle so as to insure that whenever the pins 20 seat in such notches, the upper platform will be securely held in its selected and desired position of elevation.

Assuming that the parts are in the relative position shown in Fig. 3, the user may readily elevate the upper platform I6 by grasping the ends thereof-this being facilitated by the cutouts I4 in the lower platform Illand raising the upper platform I6 until the pins 2G are adjacent those of the notches 22 which will lock the parts at the desired elevation of the upper platform. The pins 20 may then be seated in the adjacent notches 22 and the upper platform I6, by its weight and the weight of any parts or 4U articles secured to or carried thereby, will securely lock itself in the selected desired position of elevation. To lower the upper platform Iii back to the position shown in Fig. 3 the pins 2S are disengaged from the notches 22 and the 45 upper platform lowered.

The upper platform I6 constitutes the top, or a part of the top, of a table under some conditions of use, and I provide it with a pair of leaves 23 each hinged at 24 to a corresponding 50 side edge of the platform I6 to be movable outwardly from a position shown in full lines in Fig. 3 to a position 180 degrees from such postion, when the platform is sufciently elevated. Each of the leaves 23 is preferably of one-half 55 the width of the platform I6 so that when swung to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3, the adjacent edges of the leaves abut, with only such clearance as may be necessary for proper operation. By virtue of this construction, there is available a table having a top as longas the upper platform I 6 and twice its width. Each leaf 23 has rigidly secured thereto a flange 25, preferably at right angles with respect thereto. When the leaves 23 are in the folded position, the flanges 25 constitute side rails for preventing objects from sliding off the side edges of the top. When the leaves 23 are extended, by rotating them through 180, the flanges 25 extend downwardly and abut the side edges of the platform I5, thereby providing a rigid table top of twice the area of the platform I6. If desired to increase the rigidity of the extended table top, the platform I6 may be made thicker, particularly at its opposite side edges, so as to be engaged and abutted by a greater area of the flange 25 when the top 23-I6-23 is extended.

I provide a tray so that my article of furniture may not only be used as above indicated, but also as va tea-wagon. This tray comprises a frame 25 of such width as to fit within the flanges 25 when the latter are extending upwardly and of substantially -the same length as the platform i6. A panel 21, of plain or ornamental glass, is mounted in the frame to complete the tray. The tray may be readily placed in the position shown (Figs. 1 and 3) or removed therefrom. When the tray is placed upon the folded leaves 23 it is held against lateral movement in either direction by its engagement with the upstanding flanges 25, and to prevent undesired endwise movement, the tray is shown provided with lugs or clips 28 suitably secured thereto and adapted to extend downwardly into engagement with the ends of the platform I6.

The article of furniture which I have invented is not only sightly, strong, and useful, but is capable of a variety of uses. Thus, sup-pose it is desired to use it as 'a tea-wagon. The upper platform I6 and parts carried thereby (Fig. 3, fulllines) are elevated to the desired position and'will be rigidly and securely held in such elevated position, all as above set forth, If it is desired to store it in a closet, attic, or the like, the parts may be collapsed to the compact condition (Fig. 3, full lines) in which the entire assemblage occupies comparatively little space. If it is desired to use the article as a bridge table or luncheon table, the upper platform i6 is elevated to the desired height and locked in position, the tray 26-21 is removed, and the leaves 23 swung outwardly through 180. The table so formed may be used indoors or it may be used outdoors as at the beach or on picnics outdoors. rfhe article when folded and collapsed may 'be easily carried by one person and readily carried in or on an automobile (pleasure car) without crowding and thereby inconveniencing the passengers. When arriving at the beach or picnic site the article of furniture may be utilized as a hand-propelled vehicle to haul the picnic supplies from the parked automobile to the beach or actual picnic site, and then utilized as a table either with the leaves 23 in folded position or extended to form a table top of double the area of that of the upper platform I6. The lower platform Il! may be utilized as a shelf to receive more or less of the picnic supplies.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have herein described the principle of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiments thereof, but I desire to haveit understood that the apparatus disclosed is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means. Also, while it is designed to use the various features and elements in the combinations and relations described, some of these may be altered and others omitted and some of the features of each modification may be embodied in the others without interfering with the more general results outlined, and the invention extends to such use within the scope of the appended claims. What I claim is: 1. In a collapsible, convertible tea-wagon and table, in combination, a platform, a pair of leaves of L-shaped cross-section each pivoted at its vertex edge to a corresponding edge of said platform for movement through and a removable tray mounted upon said folded leaves and held against lateral movement b-y the upwardly extending flanges thereof.l

2. A convertible wagon body Vand table top comprising, in combination, a platform, and a plurality of flanged-leaves pivotally connected to said platform at its edges for movement from a position in which the flanges project upwardly to form continuous side walls of an open-top wagon body and the leaves project inwardly, to a position in which the flanges project downwardly andthe Yleaves project outwardly in substantially the vsame plane with said platform to form a table. Y

- IDA L. ROGERS. 

